In the aftermath of the Disney-Fox merger. It was unclear where Fox’s X-Men franchise and the more adult superhero movies like Deadpool would go. Deadpool and Deadpool 2 were major R-rated hits for 20th Century Fox. But how would they sit alongside the family-friendly fare made by Marvel Studios? According to Deadpool character creator Rob Liefeld. We may not see another movie starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. Liefeld is casting doubts on whether we’ll see a Deadpool 3 now that the X-Men characters are back in the Marvel Studios fold.

In an interview with Inverse, Rob Liefeld. Who created the fourth-wall breaking character alongside Fabian Nicieza. Said that he fears the Deadpool movies have “set sail”. Because of Marvel Studios’ jam-packed slate of superhero movies over the next few years. Liefeld suggests that there’s no room for Deadpool 3 and claims that Feige has “zero” plans for the sequel:

Quote:“I don’t know. Here’s what people don’t want to hear, but thank God I’m a realist. I feel like Deadpool, the movies, they’ve set sail. We got two brilliant movies, and we live in a culture that always looks forward because all they’re ever selling us is ‘next, next, next.’ It’s the fever. For me, as the fever calms down, people just need to calm down and realize that Deadpool 1 and 2 were released within two years of each other, 2016 and 2018, and I just can’t… I’m not really that crazy about Marvel’s plan right now.”

The plan that Liefeld refers to his Marvel’s Phase Four, which includes films like Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and follow-ups to the Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange franchises. That phase notably doesn’t include any X-Men movies, despite the characters now returning to Marvel Studios after fans long wished for the characters to cross over with the Avengers as they do in the comics.

This lack of attention for the X-Men characters on Marvel Studios’ part has apparently really grinded Liefeld’s gears, who ranted that Eternals and Black Widow are underwhelming follow-ups to Avengers: Endgame. This has led Liefeld to assume that this means Deadpool 3 is dead in the dust. Despite no confirmation from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. And despite Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds enthusiastically sharing that he is talking with Marvel about returning to the character. “We’re over at Marvel [Studios] now, which is like the big leagues all of a sudden,” Reynolds recently said. “It’s kinda crazy. So yeah, we’re working on it.”